


In a Perfect World

by Dawn_Khee



Series: Ectober 2020 [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, POV First Person, POV Original Character, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26755132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Khee/pseuds/Dawn_Khee
Summary: Years before the Guys in White set their eyes on a certain halfa, they held interests in capturing, containing, and even creating ghosts. No, not by causing death, but by creating a spectral entity where there wasn't life before.“The life of the dead is set in the memory of the living.” ― Marcus Tullius Cicero, Philippics
Series: Ectober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948264
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. Splatter

The splatter of green plasm onto the pristine white floor surrounded me as I looked around. So this was what it was like to be on the other side of the glass. My eyes shifted around at the agents who didn't care about me. I narrowed my eyes at all of them, scowling, sneering, letting them know that they were pathetic in my eyes. The feeling burned inside of me that they were inferior, that they were lesser than I. Then, I caught sight of the one human who considered me more than an experiment.  
  
My eyes softened instantly, on instinct, and I managed to restrain myself from attacking the operatives. Operative T wouldn't want me to, and despite the screaming urge to lash out coming from somewhere deep inside me, I could listen to her. Only she cared about me and she was _mine._ They didn't deserve her, the fools didn't know she was the only one standing between themselves and me showing them the monster they "wanted."  
  
"Despite the unforeseen defects in the clone, Project Renegade produced another successful weapon at our disposal-" the director announced, standing in front of me, with my ghostly tail curled under me as I knelt on the ground.  
  
"Get. out." I whispered harshly at him.  
  
Raising my head, my eyes burned as I scowled directly at him. Slowly, I raised my hand. My fingers twitched and his shadow dripped to life from the floor. It loomed behind him, dripping shadowy liquid into a pool at its feet. All that mattered right now is the fact it was stable, it didn't collapse midway through. As my hand shook, carefully I commanded the shadow to obey me. I wouldn't be disappointed even when it started to collapse.  
  
"It's-" as the shadow turned more into a thin sludge, it managed to grab onto the numbskull.

All I had the numbskull's shadow do is wrap an arm around his neck enough to keep him from running and cover his mouth with its free hand. That way he wouldn't come any closer. He couldn't touch me, he couldn't insult me to my face as long as his own shadow kept a hand clamped over his trap. I loved the sweet smell of this man's fear. While the other agents rushed over to ruin my sweet moments of peace or come after me for getting back at him, Operative T watched in horror.  
  
"You don't have to attack him just because he's a jerkwad!" the fear in her voice made me stop- even if her fear smelled just as wonderful, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Reluctantly, I let the shadow collapse instead of fighting to maintain it. The other agents froze and stared at her before I decided to comply. None of them knew who performed the "tampering" on me. Now? Now they knew it was Operative T. As the operatives continued to restrain me, some of them making sure to keep an eye on Operative T, I snarled. I wanted to fight back, I wanted to sink my claws into them and make them pay-  
  
I couldn't raise any shadows to distract them no matter how hard I tried. They all collapsed halfway through, like normal. Slowly, they rose less and less. The fear whisps were weak. They didn't fear me as much as I thought, even the head numbskull wasn't as terrified of me as I thought. As the rope bound me I let out a growling scream. Pathetic- _worthless-_ **fools.**

"Operative T, I want to see you in my office, and I want to see you in there **_now_**." he might as well have screamed it.  
  
As I passed him, I let out another hate-filled snarl at him, " **G̶̨̥͛̔e̴̤̓t̸̮̐.̸̛̫̳ ̵̪͕͝ _O̸͙̊u̴̱̎ṫ̷̯.̷̝͒͝._** "  
  
  


* * *

  
  
I sat in my containment unit, clenching my fist. It wasn't my fault Operative T got into trouble. Those morons didn't appreciate or even comprehend what I would've been without her involvement. The other operatives couldn't tell a dangerous ghost from a defensive one even if someone looked them in the eye and explained it to them. Oh right, Operative T already did that for months before I emerged from my pod. Incompetent fools... How long ago had it been?  
  
My eyes flicked up and narrowed the moment I heard the doors to my holding room open. They didn't dare put one of their precious creations near any of the test subjects they'd captured. They didn't dare put my sister or I near the ghost we were cloned from and risk that we'd be tainted by her influence, so they kept us alone. Separated from each other even, because of how different we'd "turned out."  
  
I bared my teeth in a defiant scowl, letting my eyes glow. I hated them for treating me like something less than human, some kind of experiment. I saw it in his movement, the fact he didn't greet me or even acknowledge I'd heard him come in, he thought I was mindless and driven by impulses alone. Clenching my fist harder, I pricked my palm as I shoved down the urge to sink my claws into that _rat._  
  
"Clone M, we need to perform the ability assessment." one of the agents droned.  
  
I stayed silent. No, I wouldn't let them call me that. I wouldn't do what they wanted or play along if they wouldn't treat me like I had feelings. I kept my cold gaze on him, defiant, making sure that he knew I loathed him. Not as much as the director since he's the one that punished Operative T. This lowlife? He was one of the ones to help the head numbskull but didn't come near me. So I didn't _hate_ him.  
  
"Clone M-" he drawled again, harder and more direct.  
  
"Why would I listen to someone as lowly and miserable as you?" I sneered, but I still got up after moved to unlock the containment unit.  
  
Even if he wore those dark glasses, I knew he rolled his eyes. I wasn't a threat to him as long as he didn't provoke me too far, and he knew it. So looks like he wasn't as much of an idiot as I thought he was... He didn't restrain me as tightly as some of the other agents, which made the urge to fight back fade a little. I still wanted to make him scream, I felt the burning urge and I could barely keep it shoved down. When I thought of the director, however, the sound of his shriveling screams would be music to my ears.  
  
"My superiors prefer to keep anyone without my level of clearance or higher from retrieving you for any procedures or assessments," he repeated the same statement, but he added, "Although it's frowned upon in our protocol to address you in such a way," he looked around before finishing, "I trust you're less of a threat than your counterparts."  
  
For an operative to mention this, even in their stiff, up-tight way of talking, I took what little respect I could get. Nothing changed between the times where they wanted to see what quirks and oddities my powers hand because the fact Operative T meddled. Except for the progress I made. Flicking a finger that wasn't restrained by ecto-ropes, I sent a pen's shadow flying at the director's forehead. I hated the fact he was in here, but he'd take it out on Operative T if I did too much to show him how much I hated his guts.  
  
"Clone M," the director stared coldly behind his shades, already speaking in a blunt warning.  
  
"Well if it isn't the king of the numbskulls," I hissed.  
  
My eyes flared brighter when I had to look at his stupid face. He didn't deserve to be in my presence, and he didn't deserve to be anywhere near Operative T. She was _mine_ , and he wasn't worthy to speak to us the way he did. My claws twitched as I wanted to attack again, to make him beg for mercy, to show him what real fear was. I licked my teeth, trying to get him to back off. I wanted him to _leave me alone._

"You know according to protocol, you're not supposed to use intimidation tactics on us."  
  
Another operative entered with a ghost bound with rope. Twice as much as they used on me, and she still was barely under their control. Only one ghost that I've been allowed around needed that. My scowl knifed into a grin. Even as much as we despised each other, we both hated these numbskulls, for one.

"Well if it isn't the reject," she sneered, but a slight smile crept onto her face.  
  
"Well if it isn't the mimic who's barely her own ghost," I shot back, half spiteful and half-teasing.  
  
She let her yellow eyes glow a little as she tried to lift the operatives off the ground, mocking the one next to her as she began to slowly rise into the air thanks to her telekinesis. The operative screamed, not expecting that my sister would hide powers from them. I didn't do anything to join in tormenting the woman or start to turn on the operative near me. I didn't bother helping the one at my sister's mercy, either.

"Clone M, I order you to assist Operative O," he commanded.  
  
I decided to think about it.  
_  
"Listen, if you don't respond to being called a clone I get it, but we have to call you something."_

 _I let the agents take ectoplasm samples and readings as she talked to me. They hated the idea of letting Operative T near me, but as long as she could be with me, then I'd let them run tests. She'd make sure they didn't cause me pain for the sake of seeing what would happen or hurting me because they didn't think I could really feel pain. So just like when she checked on me when I was still in my pod, she always talked to me during the tests.  
  
__"They won't listen anyway," I growled, but felt- loved because she'd even thought about it, "but sure."  
_  
I animated the woman's shadow to hold her on the ground, instead of attacking my sister. I wouldn't attack her, I was a "runt" according to her anyway. I only listened because Operative T would want me to show that idiot operative mercy because I was better than they thought I was. Even if they thought my sister and I were emotionless monsters, animated abominations, that we could be different even if it was out of spite. To prove them wrong and shove it in their faces.

"Traitor," Clone L spat, "they'd just as soon tear us apart to look inside of us!"  
  
Clone L was my only sister to make it out of the cloning pod. I hated it when she made me choose between her and Operative T- who was almost like a mom. Operative T cared about her just as much as she cared about me, even if Clone L made me look like a saint. Yet, my sister hated her. My sister hated her for "corrupting me to fit her ideals of perfection." I didn't know if she meant it or hated that she didn't get what I had. No, she got what I had.  
  
Lusamine was my only sister to survive long enough to emerge from her pod and be "born."


	2. Pulse

"We're too valuable to them," I looked at her like she was an idiot, glaring at her, "we're the only ones who survived."  
  
"Exactly, all the more reason to rip us open and see why we did. I'm from the original design and you-" she looked disgusted at me, "-you're an abomination."

At first, there were thirteen of us. A lot of our sisters didn't make it past the first stages of clone development, and it still hurts, but I never got to know them at all. No one explained to me there how it worked, and it'd be a while after I left before I knew how our cloning worked. So back then, I just knew we had each other. That's what I wanted to think.

  
"I'm not an abomination!" I hissed.  
  
"You have a _pulse_ ," Lusamine spat, "what kind of ghost are you?"  
  
"One who never died, just like you," I looked coldly at her.

_"Operative T, can you explain the anomalies found in Clone M?" one of the scientists called Operative T in, looking at one of the many weird things they found about me that even my sister didn't have._  
  
_She looked at the screens and papers, raising her eyebrows or lowering them more than normal whenever she came across something she wanted to question. Muttering once or twice, she finally got to one she understood by the look on her face. When mom just looked at them, her face screamed that they were morons. She wasn't wrong, they refused to see that I've shown real emotion, so they're idiots._  
  
_"You're upset because she has a pulse?" she asked._  
  
_"Operative T, her core is pulsing at the same rate as a human heartbeat." he stared at her like this was a crime._  
  
She always did this, but it hurt more than when the operatives called me a freak, an abomination, a crime against nature. They weren't family, and the one who I called mom would never say any of those things. Lusamine? When didn't she insult me? Even if we were prisoners in the same place, we were more than that.   
  
The director cut us off silently before we could argue any more. After hitting him in the forehead one last time, I let the pen's shadow melt back to where it came from. I shot him a quick look, but Lusamine glared at him with a burning hatred, almost like hellfire. I hated him, sure, but not that much. I just didn't want him near me or Operative T. Lusamine looked like she wanted to make him pay- more than I did.

I couldn't make it completely solid like the pen was, but Operative O's shadow still held her on the ground. At least Lusamine couldn't maim her like the last few operatives that were assigned to her. This director was an idiot if he thought an operative with enough training would be able to keep from an attempted mauling by having "authority over ecto-entities." Numbskull.

The reason I never actually tried to maim him? Mom said it wouldn't help anyone. So whenever I wanted to make him scream a little, I made myself hold back. I didn't _attack_ him physically, but I didn't have to suck up to him. I looked at Operative O like she was an idiot for thinking I'd be a threat, but didn't let go of her. It's not like she deserved what Lusa would do.

Operative O looked at both of us, trying to choose between the lesser evil. Either way, she couldn't move, she couldn't run, all she could hope for is that somehow she'd get free before we turned on her. I could see the fear in her eyes. The sweet smell, the delicious taste in my mouth, told me it was good. Yet, I didn't feed. I cast a glance at the guy who walked me in here. Well, at least he didn't _hate_ me.  
  
"Just get your little friend out of here," I rolled my eyes.  
  
As he tried to move Operative O out of the room, Lusamine managed to throw him a little bit. Just enough to keep him out of her way. With a wicked grin on her face, Lusamine breathed in a thick cloud of yellow mist from the operative and tore off her restraints slowly. Idiot.  
  
"Wh-what," the operative stuttered, "are you doing?!" the last part came out strangely venomous.  
  
Lusamine simply waved her hands in circles, moving her wrists so more mist would come towards her. My sister's aura flared brighter as she fed, and she _enjoyed_ it. Her eyes closed in bliss. She sighed like I would at the idea of tormenting the head numbskull lording over us both- by feeding on his fear. Soon, she held the woman in a headlock with her hand tipping Operative O's head up a little.  
  
The mist felt wrong to me, almost like it reached out and drew something from me. My claw-tipped fingers twitched again along with my eye. Clenching my fingers, but not in a fist I knew I had to sink them into _something._ I stared right at the director.   
  
"We need backup!" the operative other operative yelled as I moved closer to the director, thrashing to get loose.  
  
A hatred I couldn't hold back filled my eyes. The yellow aura shrouded me in whisps, and it- clouded my mind. Spite. Hatred. Malevolence. The mist, and by that logic my sister Lusamine, was forcing them to be all that I thought and cared about. All the urges I held back before rushed to the surface at once. Without looking, I commanded the other operative's shadow to turn on the director. Electricity sparked at the edge of my vision and it crackled from the device to me, sending a shock into my side. It didn't work when my claws found the stupid thing.

" **Elvira,** " a voice pleaded, " **Elvira _stop!_** "

"...Run."  
  
That's all I could manage before I plunged back into the frenzy of the mist.

* * *

  
  
I floated beside Operative T, wondering what I'd done in between the other room and here. She promised I didn't kill anyone, she promised all his injuries were minor, and she told me it'd be okay. I didn't believe her. Sure, she trusted me. Even if it _wasn't_ my fault the others would blame me as much as Lusamine. The scientists who worked in the area Operative T called the "medical room" stared at me like I was a monster. It's not like that was any different.  
  
"Clone L is able to induce malevolence and rage by amplifying previously held resentments." one of the scientists explained, which I already knew- tell me something I don't know.  
  
They started with the normal stuff. The stuff humans get at the doctor's: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and throat. Granted, I never formed with legs so that little hammer they use wouldn't work as well. My ghostly tail twitched like it usually did when they put something cold against it. Mom's told me the next parts weren't normal for humans.  
  
My hands were a ghostly white- I'd heard that when they pulled me off him, blood coated my claws, and felt sick. I wanted to make him cry like a wuss, not do anything to leave a scar. What'd happen to Lusa after this? Let alone what would happen to me... I wanted to cry, but I never wanted to cry in front of the scientists. It only made it worse.  
  
"So you're saying the mist made it to where she couldn't hold back how ticked off she was at our boss?" Operative T put it in her own words, "I'm aware that this kind of terminology breaks protocol, but Elvira complies further if my speech is the same as civilians'"  
  
"Affirmative," and then he lowered his shades, "what we don't understand is how she managed to resist for a few seconds."  
  
I felt her heartbeat. I didn't know why they hated the fact I had one, but they did. Operative T- no mom loved it. She didn't know I'd have one when I was still in the pod. It was fainter than hers, but I knew she felt mine. Well, the pulsing of my core. I didn't have a heart. Not a physical one.  
  
"She doesn't hate my guts, that's why," Operative T held my hand as they took the ectoplasm sample, "Lusamine- fine Clone L just used the fact Elvira hates him for her own gain."

"So you're confirming that this ecto-entity hates him?" the scientist pushed his shades back up.  
  
I'm not a monster. I'm _not_ a monster. I didn't know what that mist would make me do, so it wasn't my fault. All the other times, I'd learn it'd been for four years, she'd never done anything like _that._ Not to me. Not until now at least...  
  
Freak- Abomination- Reject- All the insults both the agents and Lusamine threw at me came back. Maybe they were right, even if mom cared about me. After all, she's the one that made me like this... If she didn't, would I be just like Lusamine?  
  
I kept my mouth shut, not looking at him. If he wasn't gonna point out how the head numbskull treated her then he didn't need to say it like it was a crime. I didn't snap or growl when I decided to say something. If I snapped a while after this, they'd take it out on me. It's not like anyone besides mom loved me. It was _Lusamine's_ fault I lost it, not mine. Right?  
  
"I don't hate him he's just an-" Operative T squeezed my hand harder, "giant numbskull," I growled, not getting to cuss with mom in the room.  
  
In that moment, I resented Lusamine for it. Just because she thought I was some freak, didn't mean she had to use me like that. Instead of getting the fact I'd rather not maul the jerks that lorded over us, no matter how much I wanted to at times, she _made_ me. She didn't act like she loved me, and if she did care, then I didn't know what was wrong with her. It wouldn't kill her to show it for once.


	3. Rewind

I flicked my hand and made the shadow sink back down, too easy. The other ghost didn't know what hit him when I played keep-away with his shadow moving in reverse. They took his baton and shield so I couldn't have any shadow stuff to use. They wanted a trial where they just tested _my_ powers anyway, aside from the fact I'd smack the head numbskull with the baton for kicks. Whenever I snapped, the shadows swapped states. Soon my shadow taunted him, as I joined in the fun.  
  
Whenever Lusa wasn't here, sometimes I could have a _little_ fun since no one else crossed the lines she did. I floated upsidedown in front of him, while my shadow held him in a headlock. Yeah, I made sure it wasn't too tight. Not that he needed to breathe, but mom wanted me to keep in mind humans did. So I had to "play nice." I laughed at the look on his stupid face. I'd already won ten minutes in- and half the time I just wanted to mess with him.  
  
When I flipped him, to the ground, I floated over him and gave him my "demon smile." After I bent down and tipped his chin up, I smiled without showing my pearly whites. A little eye glow, a little too much silence, and I got him to narrow his eyes at me. I just smirked back at his growing frown. He'd hate me for toying with him in a fight. Well, that's his problem.  
  
"Clone M, prolonging the fights for your amusement is against protocol," the head numbskull was also the head buzzkill, "and you've been ordered to cease using your- demon smile."  
  
I guess my finger must have twitched on accident because his shadow stood right behind him when he said that. I looked at him and gave him a smile. Both he and mom called it that on their own, and mom _asked_ me not to use it on her. So I didn't. Him? Forget him, I still hated his guts, and I always will. He _had_ to put up with me since Lusamine pulled some kind of revolt.  
  
When I was halfway down the hall, I heard his scream. With a snap, I dismissed his shadow. Rolling her eyes, Operative O tightened the restraints. Yet, loosened them too soon when we were outside the containment unit. I felt a small scrap of paper. I tightened my grip on it before she took the cuffs off and let me walk in. I looked back at her after she closed the door. What was _that_ for? Normally she talked about me like I was their greatest creation- not like I was my own ghost.  
  
"I'll call in Operative T to guard you," she paused too long, "Clone M."  
  
  
  
  


* * *

After the revolt, Lusa and I couldn't be around each other for a while. Not that I wanted to see her stupid face again for a while. I leaned against the door to my little prison as Operative T stood with her back against the outside. The numbskulls wanted to wipe my memory. The idiots would have if it weren't for the fact even with Lusa's rage mist, I could still respond to her. A split second of breaking free from my idiot sister's influence proved that mom breaking rule after rule... saved more than just my "life."

For a while, neither of us spoke. All we wanted was to be alone together and we got it. Besides, I still lashed out at other Operatives besides her. The kid that had to see me lose it wouldn't be in any real danger, but- he didn't wanna be around me after that. Operative O quit after what happened but-  
  
I closed my eyes- so she didn't care about ghosts still, but- she never ratted out mom when she **knew** _..._

_Mom lowered her shades down and smiled at me, and I tried to grin back normally. It still looked like something from a horror movie, but I couldn't tell by the look on her face. Neither of us noticed someone walk in. Neither of us noticed someone shut the door, with a stare that could make Pariah himself think twice. -that guy still sounds like a myth._

_"You tampered with her-" Operative O didn't accuse her..._  
  
_The black-haired woman stared past Operative T, and right at the "defective clone." I didn't realize it wasn't the same look the other operatives gave me. She wasn't horrified or angry like I was a freak or that Operative T tainted their precious experiment. Her gaze flicked back to mom. I don't think I could sense much fear, even when I licked my teeth to get her to leave._  
  
_My eyes popped open in the pod, I guess I wanted to know who accused mom like that. Make sure I remembered what she looked like and not just the sound of her voice. If it sounds messed up, I know. The fact mom talked to me in the pod, but like I could hear, meant I **hated** hearing any of the others say something bad. It didn't matter if they were right or not._  
  
_"-there's a pattern," she still looked at me, "whenever one of your peers or superiors bring up an accusation or charge, she tries to scare the 'offenders' off."_

_I remember feeling mad and confused. She wasn't really talking to me, but yet she looked right at me. Not like some unholy spawn like a few operatives did, but- like I knew what I was doing. Not just instinct or whatever, but that I chose to act that way. Yet Operative T felt scared at that. Then I loved the taste of any fear- when I could get it through the air intake, but I knew it'd be better for **me** to not draw it out._  
  
_"It's also the fact the majority of the operatives here talk like she can't understand. You do it too, but at least you keep the insults out of the room." Operative T answered._  
  
_She looked back at Operative T, "I'm only trying to behave in a scholarly manner. The workplace has no time for the side comments our boss constantly throws in- she's moving toward us."  
  
The glass felt cold as always until Operative T touched her hand to it. Our palms touched on opposite sides of the glass, and she tells me my smile wasn't creepy or threatening. I felt my core hum loudly, and heard it, at the fact she did this in front of someone. I figured then- if she did this then something was different about this human. At least she wasn't as pathetic as the others.  
  
Operative O touched her hand to the glass like I'd break it and grab her. Slowly, I put my hand against my side. I didn't get why she did it then, but she'd rather not lose one of their best operatives. A breach like this, altering me on top of all the other charges, screamed discharge if not prison. Operative O muttered it under her breath before she knew how much I understood.  
  
"For something with a mouth full of sharp teeth, she can be a sweetheart when she wants to be" Operative T sighed and then went back to that stupid stiff talk, "regardless of what the research says on other ghosts- Clone M is different. I know we're wrong. Could it be possible for anyone else besides me to consider all ghosts are capable of emotion? Implanting emotions into her is impossible."  
_

_"You're so fired-" her green eyes looked into Operative T's brown ones as she moved her hand off the glass, "-unless someone helps compile a list of evidence in your favor. As of now, your tampering provided substantial benefits to Project Renegade. Despite the fact you've made several braches in protocol and the literal ghost-related laws..."  
  
I didn't take my hand off the glass. It felt different there, just like Operative T's hand. Operative T's hand- and that woman's hand... They both felt warm. Before I left the pod, I thought- it doesn't matter now. What matters is that Operative T changed my mind before then.  
  
We watched her walk to the doors. Before she punched in the code, she turned around and stared us both in the eyes. With a gaze that might scare off Pariah for a different reason, she turned back around and left. The door closed and neither of us spoke for a while. Humans besides Operative T were capable of emotion, positive ones. At least neutral._

Operative O protected me for science and academic reasons. She liked what I was, not who I was. Sure, she didn't act all nice to me or think I was more than a monster. Yet, she cared enough to help keep mom around. So that made her alright in my book- Lusamine's mist set me on edge, it wasn't my fault I couldn't protect her, Maybe I should have been nicer to her before the mist kicked in, or moved her away. The woman didn't die- that's what matters, right?   
  
I growled a little at the thought of Lusa. Lusamine wasn't right that they wanted to rip us open, but we were just experiments to most of them. Most of them. Not all of them _hated_ us. I just kept my eyes closed made myself smile. I already knew what the note said.

In the same handwriting she always used for files and whatever it was she had to do, were two words. All I needed to know where those two little words. Being alone with my mom, I didn't have to worry about the fact I cried. Joy- somehow my first tears of joy were in that heck-hole. Mom wasn't the only one who knew I wasn't a blob of selfish ectoplasm.  
  
𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 -𝒪𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒪  
  
"You're welcome, uptight nag."


	4. Poison

I licked my teeth, and the last scraps of the fear-filled mist tasted wonderful. Of course, the operatives stared in horror as I fed. Maybe they should have given me some food from the cafeteria that I'd asked for. When Mom locked eyes with me and I stopped. I realized what I was doing and for a few seconds thought she'd hate me. Back then, I thought I'd manage to make her regret giving me a chance.  
  
Calmly, she walked over and looked up at me. I sulked and looked sheepishly at her, and I didn't wanna do that in front of other operatives too much, but soon after that... She handed me a Snickers. I clawed open the wrapper and ate it like I was gonna starve to death. When we see the 'you're not you when you're hungry,' commercials we laugh every time.  
  
We weren't laughing then. Feeding off of humans wasn't something a ghost did unless they wanted to suffer- the operatives wasted no time locking restraints onto me and clearing all the other operatives out of the room, save for my current handler and the director. Mom tried to stay. Of course, the director made her leave. She'd be the one that kept me from wanting to leave him with a few more scratches.  
  
"All three of them have the capability of inducing altered states of mind via toxins," Operative V locked more restraints onto me, "but at least Clone M hasn't utilized its toxins as much as ghost number 1S-3 and Clone L have."  
  
"I don't poison people's heads," I growled defensively, "and don't call me **_it._** "  
  
The director frowned at me and I snarled back. I didn't break eye contact, and since there wasn't any point in reasoning with him, I'd _make_ him respect me. If he didn't wanna do it the easy way, I wanted to make him know what real fear was. It wasn't like it would have been that hard to treat me like I wasn't a blob of evil ghost slime. It's not like it'd kill him, the marks from my last attack didn't.

"Right, her," the operative corrected, "and how do you know that purple mist doesn't contain a neurotoxin?"  
  
"Because-" I didn't know if it did or not, "-someone would've figured it out by now."  
  
If I look back, I was more scared of the fact I could have some kind of messed up ability like Lusa did than of him. I didn't want to be a monster in the literal sense. Then, I thought having some kind of mind-warping poison only proved his point. I wasn't scared of my powers either. I was scared of growing into the monster he thought I was without knowing it.  
  
I could taste Operative V's fear. It tasted _good_ and who wasn't as afraid was the head numbskull. He's the one I wanted to feed off of, but the ones I managed to grab a snack from weren't so nice anyway. That kind of fear felt intoxicating, even. I didn't know back then there were different kinds of fear.  
  
My mouth watered a little and I didn't try to fight it. I'd rather fight the urge to attack than to feed, and the director didn't get that he couldn't make me stop both. Not eating in months, even if I didn't need to, made it harder to resist my cravings. At least mom got the fact I couldn't help it.  
  
"You wouldn't care if it did, why wouldn't you be different from any other ghost? Emotionless and evil," the director talked like he knew everything.  
  
My eyes flared- I _wasn't_ emotionless! Everyone thought Lusa's mist lingered on me by the way I acted- no. They thought that's how I really acted without pretending to care about mom. I was just sick and tired of being stepped on, kicked, and told I didn't even have a _soul._ I couldn't twitch my fingers to animate his shadow. I couldn't _make_ him leave. I couldn't _make him shut up.  
  
_ Operative V might not _care_ about me but at least he respects me since, I don't know, it'd mean I act out less. It makes everyone happier, but since the head numbskull thinks he's always right no one can tell him otherwise. It meant everyone trapped here was in the same heck-hole, ghost, or operative. The director had to be the biggest idiot on the planet.  
  
I didn't fight for Operative V's sake. At least he cared a _little_ , so I didn't want to hurt him. Well, at least not much. That Director would never understand, and still doesn't, that he's never earned respect from me. He didn't deserve it then, and I don't see how he's earned it now if he wants me to kiss his butt. I'm not gonna worship the ground he walks on.

"I'm _not_ emotionless," I snarled at him, "so what if I hate you? You hated me _first._ "  
  
"I don't need to reason with an entity that only emulates emotion to manipulate others to fulfill its desires," he said like an order for **me** to shut it, "Operative V, return Clone M to her containment unit."  
  
"And I don't need to bow to a man who's as bad as he thinks ghosts are," I snapped at the director.  
  
The director looked like he'd get up and come right over to me. Let the idiot get closer, it's not like he'd pull anything. Wait, he would, he always acted like the coward he is. I didn't want to maim him too much, but I wanted to hear him plead for me to show him pity like the worm he is. Before he could lay a dirty hand on me, we were already out of the room.  
  
Operative V walked me back down the hall, but the fact they made him wear a ghost-proof gas mask when he was alone mocked me. They did whatever they wanted and expected me to do what ordered like a good little experiment. That director was lucky I didn't act like he told me I was. If I could get him alone for five minutes, he'd listen. He'd stay away after I was done with him.  
  
The head numbskull yelled from down the hall. Empty threat and promises he'd never be able to act on didn't scare me anymore. What scared me more than being a monster was the idea of proving him right at all. His ideas are worse than- well, someone else I know. At least she doesn't label all humans like he does all ghosts.  
  
It felt like it was still in the back of my brain sometimes. The yellow fog that made me want to maul people, but it had to be gone. It'd been long enough that the mist should have stopped working. My core ached and the humming wasn't the purring kind. Why would it be when I'd just seen the head numbskull? I just wanted it to stop, my core used to do that every time I got tense enough.  
  
"You called me her. I know you don't like me, but thanks."  
  
He nodded, and just walked me to my containment unit. The whine of my core wasn't something humans could hear. Other ghosts would hear it, and somehow, not all of them hated me. Most of them did. They blamed me for the extra restraints. The humans talked like Lusa and whoever 1S-3 was were the ones who made them worse. Of course, she caused it.  
  
After an incident that none of the ghosts were allowed to know about, probably the one where Lusa tried to revolt, things got worse for all of us. The operative put me in my little corner of this heck-hole and left the restraints on. I scowled at him a little, but it wasn't his fault. It wasn't like he could take them off me, but I could help but ask.  
  
"Lusamine's the one who wanted to slaughter everyone and I get blamed for it?" I shouldn't have been so ticked at him.  
  
He frowned instead of giving me a blank face. So at least he felt sorry for me, but he just turned and walked away. I didn't know why he didn't answer then. All it made me do is think about what Lusa did. About how horrible she was, and how I hadn't seen her in a while. My eyes narrowed- she should be out of solitary by now. Shouldn't she?  
  
No- I grimaced. After that stunt, she'd be in solitary for a long, long time. It still felt wrong. Mom would have told me something by now, right? Even if she didn't get within forty feet of Lusa, she'd know something. Eventually, I rested my head against one of the glass walls of my containment unit. I closed my eyes, and let out something between a growl and a scream.   
  
I could ask where she was next time I saw mom. After all, Lusa was an idiot. She'd earned solitary. They probably didn't want me around her since it was mostly the mist making me lash out more than I usually did. Yeah, I resented the head numbskull more than normal, but that was just my resentment growing. It wasn't like I was stuck with what the mist did to me.  
  
Right?  
  



	5. Orb

My core hummed like normal, and as they scanned me, I felt like something was wrong. That feeling you get when you know something bad's gonna happen but you don't know what? That. I felt that as I sat in the scanning chamber thing. I shifted my tail more than normal. I normally didn't fidget at all, so this was something the idiots could pick up on. Should- they didn't. If they had, maybe it would've been different.  
  
Lusamine called me a freak for my core humming more than a ghost's normally did. A lot more- it changed with my mood. Usually, it wasn't enough for anyone else to hear. Mom could hear the low sound it made because I hadn't said anything for minutes. She was smart enough to know I was worried and wasn't idiot enough to say I couldn't feel emotions. The scientists were beginning to _consider_ the idea they might have created me with emotions.  
  
I fiddled with my nails, no I didn't chew on them, and kept looking at mom. Why didn't she ask? Just ask already- I didn't want to say anything since the scientists might tell me it's classified. I didn't **_care_** and I still don't care if it's classified. If I'm worried, then maybe I need to know _something._   
  
"What's wrong?" Operative T looked at me, "You're normally not this quiet Clone- I mean Elvira."  
  
"Where's Lusamine?"  
  
She stayed silent for a bit. Maybe she didn't know, or her bosses wouldn't let her tell me. I knew if she didn't tell me, she'd have a better reason than the fact she didn't want me to know because it wasn't my place. She cared about me, unlike most of the humans here. I wasn't human and yet... She risked her job for me, no- she risked her job for both of us.  
  
"I don't know," I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was lying.  
  
Something was wrong. I knew it the moment I asked, that something was wrong. Mom wouldn't fake caring to get me to do what the idiots wanted me to do- I had to find out where my sister was. So after they released me to that thing where they wanted to see how powerful I was, ran. The operative assigned to me couldn't keep up, and I didn't want the idiot to follow. I cared about him too much for him to see what I was gonna do if I didn't get a clear answer.  
  
I hadn't seen her in weeks after the incident. Going a week without seeing each other was normal. The numbskulls wanted to make sure we couldn't plan a revolt or something. Two weeks made me worry, but after what she pulled I couldn't blame them. Even if I wanted to punch then _and_ her, I didn't want them to hurt my sister. Jerk or not, we were family.  
  
"Where's Lusamine?" I asked, not bothering to pretend I didn't care.  
  
No one answered me.  
  
Operative T wasn't in the room to take my side. The agents who didn't like me, but treated me with a little respect weren't here. No one here would be on my side, or that's what I thought. They'd never given me reason before now to believe they cared about me at all aside from being some test subject. That was all the reason they needed to not tell me where Lusamine was.  
  
I was _done_ playing nice. I'd held back, sure I'd caused trouble and fought a little, but I never tried to attack anyone on my own. With Lusamine's influence, I was more likely to lash out, but that didn't mean they couldn't let me know where she was at all. Even just telling me they shoved her in solitary would be enough. I'd know she screwed up like the idiot she was, and she deserved solitary like she normally did.  
  
Lusamine wasn't right about much, but they really didn't care. What were we to them? Some of these numbskulls didn't treat us like we had feelings or could even feel pain. The ones who didn't think we were even worthy of being loved were in this room. They'd hurt us just to get an answer, so it wouldn't matter if some of them got a little hurt for me to get what I wanted. 

They'd answer me one way or another. I looked around and carefully made the key solid and unlocked my cuffs with my own shadow. I hated her guts. I hated her guts more than anyone else's, but no one else understood what it was like to be a ghost and never die. Operative T didn't know what it'd feel like, even if she cared about us. Yet if mom wasn't here...  
  


**_"W̸͔̱̼̃̋̋h̴̛̤͓̻͙͚̾̂͌̌̎̃͝ȩ̶͙͕̩̓̽͗͛̌̍̕r̶̠̳̮̳̈́͛͗̋̄͑e̴̛̲̹̲̺͌́̋̒́͠ ̵̝͈̩͘͘i̴̟̻͎̝̻͎͖̔ṣ̴͓͇͊͒̉͋̏̾̆̾̓ ̴̧̣̲̝̥̺̊̾͐̿s̴͕͆͐̆͜h̸̛̻͚͈͔̐̂̈́͂̑̂͜e̷̢͉̼̮̙̠̠̍̒̃̉͐̑͋͋̎͜?̷̫̪͂!̸̫̔̊̂"_** I shrieked.  
  
  
I'd find out later my eyes blazed, with the light trailing off a little. My clenched fingers twitched and animated all their shadows, blinded by spite and anger. My own outrage at not knowing where she boiled over and lashed out at them. They'd never, **_never_** understand what it was like if they hated all ghosts. If they wanted a monster, I'd give it to them. After all, I tried being nice, and it didn't get me jack squat.  
  
The director looked at me, even now not showing any fear. I couldn't smell it or taste it from him. I only held back because he knew where she was. I had everyone but him in a headlock, and I'd start choking these pathetic humans if they didn't tell me where my sister was. We weren't monsters. We were their creations, but no matter how perfect or defective we were, they called us the monsters. ...They were the monsters.  
  
"Clone L destabilized, she no longer exists."  
  
For a split second, I wanted to snap my fingers into a fist and choke them all. It wouldn't bring Lusamine back. At that moment, I wanted someone to pay. I wanted them all to pay- when he took his shades off, it made me pause. He never did that around ghosts. He thought they were abominations. It was his idea to create Lusamine and me. So why did he suddenly care? That I was the only one of his experiments left?  
  
"Another ghost caused the chain reaction that led to her destabilization," he explained, "the one we cloned you both from."  
  
I snapped and let the shadows fade back into the floor. When I coldly scanned the room, the other agents still reeked of fear. I could see it in how tense they were, I could smell it from across the room.  
  
Instead of calming down, I wanted to tear into that ghost. I knew it wouldn't happen. All that'd happen is I'd destabilize just like Lusamine. Normally ghosts couldn't die. New clones that hadn't finished stabilizing, turns out, could die. So that's why it was only us- the others died in their pods. It was like someone popped a balloon when I fell to the ground. She was _gone.  
  
_"Lusamine..." I curled up into a ball.  
  
I cared but I was too numb to feel my own fear. It didn't sink in that we'd never be at each other's throats or even be in the same room again. They didn't kill her. Even after what she did, they didn't kill her. The family that I'd never met when I heard she'd died took her existence away from her. Something sharp ripped through my core and I let out a scream. Real pain, for the first time I knew what _real_ pain felt like.  
  
The fear from the others tasted horrible in my mouth, I figured in her last moments she'd feel nothing but fear. I hated it. It filled my nose, and I started to cough at the rancid smell. I didn't want any of it. I never wanted to taste raw fear, where someone was in real danger, again. Yet, something in my core still loved the taste of their fear.  
  
No one came close to me when that's all I wanted. The cold floor offered no comfort besides the fact I wasn't falling anymore. I wanted to hear Lusamine come in and yell at me, call me anything, I normally _loathed_ hearing her insult me. Now? I just wanted to hear it since it meant she'd still be here. We weren't older and younger sisters even if we _insisted_ a week's difference mattered. At that point, being clones, we were twins.  
  
I was the sole survivor now.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
"You're aware you won't be given clearance above civilian levels after today?" the person at the gate asked.

Curled up in the backseat of mom's car, I looked at my own hair, the seat, and then nothing at all. I'd been stuck in this place a half a year after finding out she died. When they warned mom she'd be letting her go, everyone knew she'd fight to take me with her. They didn't let her at first, but when mom pointed out that she was the one I'd always listen to on top of the fact I'd try to leave anyway- they changed their tune once I _couldn't_ stop snapping.  
  
Mom talked for an eternity before we drove away from the only world I'd known. That building with white walls, white floor, white everything wasn't home. It never felt like home unless I could be with mom. Maybe it's the fact my sister died, but looking back it felt like home near Lusamine. I'll never know if she really cared about me underneath it all or not, but my memories and a shard of her lifeless core are all I had left. Have left.

I tightly gripped the smooth shard, not wanting to lose what last physical reminder of her I had. Humans sometimes keep the ashes of their dead loved ones, human or animal, in urns. Sometimes they'll turn the ashes into diamonds. When I could open my hand, after a long while, silver light glinted off her core, turning it a lighter grey than her aura than when... I couldn't look at it when this "moon" made it look like Lusamine's core shard still had life in it.  
  
I looked at the moon as mom drove us far, far away from the facility and Nevada. It was a glowing orb, just like a core. What hurt is it looked like Lusamine's core. The orb stayed in the sky, silver and glowing with soft light. Even if her's wouldn't be nearly white I couldn't stop thinking of her. Maybe it didn't look like her core. It could be the moon reminded me of what I thought her, or something. As I gazed up at it, mom spoke to me gently.   
  
"I know you miss her honey,"


	6. Murder

The Ghost Zone would never feel like home. Sure, I was a ghost. That didn't mean this dimension had to feel right to me, I didn't need to feel like I belonged there. Right now, I didn't know where we were going. I didn't look at the ghost next to me. She cared about me or showed more compassion than Lusamine, but I didn't wanna look at her. I'd finally found the ghost that they cloned us from.  
  
Instead of being colorful like Lusamine, she was a shadow. A green aura glowed back, reminding me she wasn't _just_ like Lusamine. I wasn't like either of them. I didn't have a ghostly aura. At least, not one that showed up a lot. So mom really did change me a lot... I didn't care if people called her the original. All she did and still does when I think too much about it is remind me of my dead sister.  
  
Penelope killed Lusamine, and deep down, I vowed never to forgive her for that.  
  
"For the last time, Lusamine wanted to kill me and take my place." Penelope put a hand on my shoulder, and for once she actually cared about someone other than herself.  
  
"She could've changed." my voice cracked as tears streamed down my face, "I know you can too- **but you still killed my sister.** "  
  
I couldn't keep myself from crying and she just rolled her eyes. It's like she never cared about Lusamine- we were both her clones, and no matter what she did, we were her family. I knew she didn't care she killed my sister, but she didn't deserve to go on like it didn't matter. Even our original wouldn't understand. Now? No one could really understand. Then, I still wanted to get rid of her...  
  
"You think I can really change?" Penelope didn't believe it for a second, "The only reason you're different is that woman you insist on calling your mother decided to play God more than those other fools."  
  
"She's the one that told me to give you a chance," I snapped, "if it weren't for her I would've tried to kill you already."

I only gave her a chance for Lusamine's sake at first, before I got to know her. Even after this, I couldn't make myself give her the same chance I wanted to give Lusamine. I didn't care about her and didn't _wanna_ be close to her. Yet, part of me knew that I didn't have any other family that I was related to. Did that mean I had to love her after what she did?  
  
Penelope didn't attack or even take her hand off my shoulder. So either she cared or only pretend to, and at the time I assumed it'd be the second one. I gritted my teeth, daggers like both her's and Lusamine's, and shut my eyes tighter. Lusamine wouldn't try to kill her. Even that'd be too low for her, or at least that's what I wanted to think. Lusa wouldn't...  
  
Instead of rushing me or blowing me off like the numbskulls back at the Guys in White facility did, she waited for me to calm down enough to listen. I wanted to sink my claws into her face. I wanted to show her the pain I felt, but I couldn't. No matter how much I felt like mauling her I wussed out and couldn't even _try._ Lusamine would've called me a worthless coward.  
  
"And yet, here you are, meeting me for the first time." Penelope only insulted me a little in her tone.  
  
Nodding, I gritted my teeth more and let out a muffled growl that turned into an unholy shriek. On one hand, I hated that I still felt her filthy, rancid touch on my shoulder, and yet, she did more than the operatives did when I found out Lusamine'd been dead for over a month and _no one told me_. The ghost who _killed_ my sister cared more about me than most of the humans that filled the first five years of my existence.  
  
"I remind you of her, don't I?" she rolled her eyes, but with her voice.  
  
"You're just as much of a horrible person as she was," I growled, "of course you remind me of her."  
  
When she breathed out, I could at least tell it wasn't mocking my pain. She only breathed to talk or show emotion. I breathe like a human when I don't need it. My breaths were ragged and my core _burned._ Most ghosts assumed I only breathed because even at five years old, they assumed I clung to stuff I did when alive. No, being "alive" wasn't just leftover habits or stubbornly clinging to my past life. I breathed because I did before Lusamine died, and now, my obsession wasn't freedom, or vengeance like Lusamine's was. All I wanted more than anything else is to personally know what being alive meant.  
  
She pressed, "talking about your feelings where everybody can hear is the stupidest thing you could do."   
  
I let her show me where to float, even if part of me didn't wanna go anywhere with her. I didn't want to be in that _dimension._ It wasn't home- my core screamed that I did and didn't belong here. This wasn't home and it would _never_ be home. I still hate going into the ghost zone.  
  
When we ended up at her place, she switched to her human disguise. So that's where I got my hair from. My eyes looked more human than Lusamine's, and this whole time she called me a freak for it. I wasn't a freak. It just happened I was kinda like a mix of our original's two forms, with some twists.  
  
I sat down and looked around. Her lair looked like a normal house, unlike the outside. It was nothing _but_ shadows and darkness. Leaving light gouges in her table, I tried not to attack her. If she knew about psychology, she'd know how much I'd want to make her scream. She _knew._  
  
After getting down a jar with a swirling green mist, she uncorked it and breathed in. I wanted to barf at the smell of it. Did she have the _nerve_ to feed on misery right in front of me when I was drowning in it? Did she _want_ me to attack her? I could tell without her saying anything, it smelled just like I felt.  
  
Slamming my fist on the table, I animated her shadow, but couldn't hold it for long. My hands shook... Ever since Lusamine died, at least back then, I couldn't hold shadows for long. She'd been dead for a year and a half by the time I met Penelope. Most ghosts called her Spectra, but I wanted to make her answer me when I said her first name- and Lusamine and I called each other by our chosen names.  
  
Having the nerve to sigh at me for acting out, she slid a can of Sprite to me. Whoever this Walker was could go buzz off, sheriff in this dimension or not. Joke's on that goon, I'm wasn't from there... I used a claw to stab it open on the top, not bothering to mess with the tab thing. I chugged for a few seconds before slamming the can on the table and looking her dead in her stupid eyes for the first time.  
  
"I **_hate_** you," I snarled now that we were alone, "Penelope, you **_knew_** none of the others even made it out of the pod."  
  
"I told you she tried to kill me, I didn't even know I had a clone more pathetic than her." Penelope acted like it was perfectly fine.  
  
"Would you've killed me too?" I spat.  
  
Finally, she shut up. I stared at her waiting for her to say yes. I knew she killed Lusa without a second thought. Lusa wouldn't have wanted to kill Penelope- she wouldn't have. She... Lusamine would've. No, my sister would kill try to kill her not knowing it'd be impossible. Not knowing she could've died trying.  
  
It wasn't Lusa's fault. Lusamine. Clone L. I- I didn't know what to call her in that moment. I loved and cared about her, but she never cared about me at all. Sure I still hated her guts but- I thought she loved me and was just hiding it because of how they treated us, but... To this day, I don't know if she ever cared about me. Penelope won't tell me either.  
  
"No," she glared at me, "you're a miserable little runt, but you're nothing like your- sister. Quite frankly I wouldn't blame you for hating me."  
  
Here the ghost, the rat I was cloned from, treated me better than Lusamine did. Yet, Lusamine understood what- no. She didn't care that she never had a human life. Penelope at least hated the fact she lost her youth and missed her human life. She wanted it back. Yeah, but she's still a jerk. I still hated her in that moment, but looking back, at least she wasn't as bad as the humans who thought I didn't have feelings.  
  
Her gaze kinda softened and she huffed softly, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Sorry? SORRY?!" I shrieked, "you're the one that killed her!" my breaths were hard, and I gripped the table, staring down at it.  
  
Lusamine tried to kill her, and the mist- the mist is what got her killed. She's the one who got herself killed, but I didn't think about it then. I just hated the idea I was _alone_. That none of my sisters were alive, the fact that there weren't other ghosts that never died. At the time I thought I was the only one. I miss her still, even if she'd never really cared.  
  
"I can't die now," I snapped, "and for someone who knows what it's like, you shouldn't have killed her. Lusa's **_gone._** "  
  
For a while, she stared at me like I was whining about something that wasn't a big deal. With a snap, I broke off a hunk of the table. I didn't know at that moment, considering what she usually acted like, that she wasn't faking it. I didn't know that she didn't really have anyone _close_ to her. Right then, I didn't want to see her again. I-  
  
"If it matters at all to you, I didn't know she'd die," her gaze bore into me, "watching her melt into a pile of goo, shrieking when I couldn't do anything about it, was like dying all over again."  
  
And in her hand, somehow, was a shard of Lusa's core.


	7. Cloak

As far as I knew, I was one of the only ghosts in Amity Park before the Fenton portal. I still didn't want anything to do with her sometimes. Lusamine _did_ want to replace her, but it's always gonna hurt knowing she- didn't have to die. Lusa could still _be here_. I curled up and tucked my tail like people tuck their knees.  
  
I looked at the moon, from the basement window of mom's new house. It was a different kind of prison than the facility ever would be. Here, I could see the outside and feel it taunting me. That no matter where I went, I'd never be free. Ghost hunters _always_ watched for a real ghost to show up.  
  
I picked at the sleeves of my cloak that mom bought me the night we left Nevada. Ghost hunters lived here- they were too busy building their portal to hunt during the day. At night they came out. It's not like they could come in here without asking mom- she'd told them she'd have them arrested if they broke into her house. Yet...  
  
On the nights where I felt trapped and like if I didn't go somewhere without walls, I wanted to fly away from the living. Sometimes it hurt too much to see them and to know I'd never understand what it was like. I'd never know what being human meant, no matter what mom said. Having humanity was different than being human... As loving as mom was- I longed to fly away into the sky and never look back.  
  
Sure, I'd come back. I'd never leave mom for good. I just wanted to fly and forget- or remember. I phased through the wall, pulled my hood up, and flew into the sky. I had a bad feeling, and I couldn't tell what it was. It didn't matter. It's not like I could die.  
  
I'd done this before, and not many ghosts showed up if any. The first night we were in Amity, I'd met a sorry looking vampire ghost. If he didn't bother me, I didn't bother him. What I didn't know is my cloak is what kept him from going after me. All we did is glare to make sure the other one didn't think of attacking. Now, I don't want to think about how it could have gone differently.  
  
Tonight I settled on circling Amity, staying out of sight. I didn't count how many times I'd went around, I just flew. I didn't want to think. Yet, I couldn't stop thinking of Lusa that night. I couldn't forget about how Penelope killed her, and yet, over the years she seemed sad about it. Not in a mocking kinda way, but she _mourned_ Lusa. How-  
  
A ghost kid started to follow me, and I didn't know he was _the_ ghost kid at the time. I flew for a while, but he still followed me. When he followed me for a lap or two longer I turned invisible. The Fentons liked to come out of nowhere, or that's what ghosts told me- I didn't leave because of that.  
  
I didn't know he'd be a halfa by looking at him, even if he looked human. Part of me wanted to think he was like me. A ghost who was 'too alive.' I don't know why I suddenly cared about him. Maybe it's because he was a kid, or maybe part of me just wanted another ghost _besides_ Penelope to be friends with. Eh, Bertrand wasn't that close.

"Danny!"  
  
The kid didn't lose his friends after he died. Two humans ran up, and he took another look in my direction. What he didn't know is that he looked right into my eyes. He couldn't see me smile. Not a creepy demon smile, but one of the soft ones.   
  
"Some ghost was circling the city, I kept trying to get their attention, and we went around the city a couple of times before they just vanished,"  
  
I could've stuck around and listened in more, but he'd be fine if he had humans to look out for him. I flew off back home, thinking about what his family might've been like. He looked like that Fenton kid, but he couldn't be Danny _Fenton_. Nah, I didn't think anything of it. I should have.

* * *

Flicking a finger, I animated his shadow. It wasn't hard to fight off those goons Walker has. There were too many for them to be on a 'patrol'. Why were they after this kid, I mean then I didn't think he'd be a threat they needed to mess with. When he started duplicating, I had to eat my words. A kid this young could fight like this?  
  
Sure, he was a halfa, but I didn't think that meant he should be anything special. I didn't want to show my face, because _apparently_ snagging lost artifacts is a crime when no one wanted it anyway. Yeah, right, it wasn't even in the ghost zone and now you want to throw me in that stupid ghost jail? Forget it, numbskull. Finder's keepers.  
  
As the ghosts turned tail and ran, I could tell something felt off. It's not like they came back with reinforcements, oh wait, they did. Trying to hold more than one shadow at once again wasn't a big deal, but the fact I couldn't keep track of them was another story. When I went to take care of five guards at once, their shadows collapsed after a couple of hits. I _tried_ to help the kid.  
  
It wasn't enough to keep him from turning back. The ghost kid turned into a human right in front of me, and in the air to boot. I forgot about the fact I shouldn't have let him know what I looked like. Somehow I thought to send my shadow out instead of me, but still. I should've gone out there myself when I knew it might've collapsed right in the air. Thankfully my hood was up- but that time, the kid saw my eyes.

"Thanks?" well, at least he meant it.

The last one, of course, had to be the one I met in the facility. Instead of going for the kid, or his shadow, he went after me. I animated the goon's shadow and decided to toss him around a bit. Make sure I remind him who was the bigger ghost since this fight'd be a bit more fair- who am I kidding, he's never been as strong as me. He's still a _wuss._

What I _didn't_ expect is for the kid to thermos the goon as Danny _Fenton_ when he was right in my arms. I almost dropped him by accident and ended up holding him by the leg for a few seconds.

"Gah! watch it," alright, I deserved that glare.  
  
I held him by the shoulders and sat him on the ground, "Sorry."  
  
Well, I didn't see that his friends were behind me. Tucker didn't know who I was any more than Danny, but Sam? She knew who I was. I let go of his shoulders and floated into the air a few inches more. I decided to give them a toothy grin and reached for the nearest kid. Hey- old habits die hard, I at least wanted to _try_ to scare them for fun.  
  
She didn't even flinch. Sam walked past her little friends and stared up at me, and I couldn't even taste any of her fear. I wasn't scary to her, huh? It was one of the few times I thought that was a good thing since this was the first time I'd meet her friends, Not that _they'd_ get to know who I was yet...  
  
"Nice try Lady Peeves, but you're not scaring me. We saw you save Danny's butt back there,"  
  
When I saw the sun was rising, I winked at them and vanished, "Happy Halloween, kids."


End file.
